The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University’s newest incoming class is significantly different from the game industry itself – it’s 20% female (compared to the game industry’s 4-6%).

“We are extremely pleased that the January 2010 cohort has a higher ratio of women in the mix,” said Peter Raad, founder and executive director of The Guildhall at SMU. “There has been a disparity between the number of men versus women in the video game industry far too long and we believe this increase represents a growing trend of more women seeking a career in game development.”

Not only is it important to change the status quo, but games themselves will ultimately be better with more women in the mix. “At their core, video games are a form of storytelling. To create games that are compelling and games that appeal to an ever-expanding market of gamers, diversity must be cultivated within the development community, as well as within the individual teams that develop a single game.”

The Guildhall offers graduate-level concentrations in art, level design and programming. A dual degree plan is available which enables students to obtain a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s in interactive technology in five years.

“Typically, the increased level of a team’s diversity translates into more interesting gameplay,” noted Raad. “Our living laboratory of 120 full-time resident students proves that every day.”

More women in the video game industry is, of course, a good thing. If participation in game-related studies increases like this….well, it looks like we’ll be adding a lot more names to our list of influential women in gaming.